Detroit is forgetting small vehicles

This week, I was a guest on a radio show, discussing why we don't have a homegrown Canadian auto company. I was joined by an economist from the CAW, who brought up one of the union's favourite platforms: forcing countries like Japan and Korea to trade fairly, and import our cars as they export their own to us.

In theory, it's a very fair and solid idea. But the reality is that if we're going to sell them our cars, we've got to build something they want to buy.

The Big Three – or really, the Detroit Three – made their mark building big cars, and they've never got over it. Currently, the smallest cars they make in North America include the Ford Focus (in Michigan), Chrysler PT Cruiser (in Mexico) and Chevy Cobalt (in Ohio).

In Canada, our factories turn out full-size trucks, minivans, crossovers like the Ford Edge, and sedans like the Chrysler 300 and Chevrolet Impala.

Ford and Chrysler don't sell subcompacts here. General Motors does well with the diminutive Chevrolet Aveo and Pontiac Wave, but ironically, they're built in Korea. Chrysler is planning one, but says it'll be made in China.

And Ford got the drop on both of them: the Ford Festiva and Aspire models, sold in the 1980s and 1990s, were rebadged Kias.

Certainly, there's a growing market for bigger cars overseas: China is mad for Buicks and Cadillacs, which GM builds over there for that market. But the bread-and-butter cars in Asia and Europe are compacts and subcompacts, most offering diesel engines and manual transmissions.

Guess what we don't build in Canada?

In recent years, the Detroit Three have made enormous strides in quality, and some of our Canadian plants are consistently rated among the best. But when it comes to the global picture, the domestics are dinosaurs.

And if the CAW believes that trade agreements are going to make the streets of Seoul awash in Ontario-built Charger SRT8s and Lincoln MKXs, it's not thinking any more progressively.

Our factories and our workforce can build small cars, and build them very well, as Toyota and Honda have proven in Cambridge and Alliston. (As an aside, it's tempting to wonder if CAW chief Buzz Hargrove might be slightly less critical of the Japanese automakers if workers in those Ontario plants were paying CAW dues.)

At the moment, though, the smallest engine put in a Detroit Three car in Canada is a 2.7-litre V6, in the 5,022 mm long Dodge Magnum. In 2006, the top-selling car in Europe was the Opel/Vauxhall Astra, which features engines as small as 1.4 L and an overall length of 4,249 mm in hatchback form. You'll soon be able to buy a Saturn version of it here, imported from Belgium.

Even Canadian buyers are downsizing: according to figures released by industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, the only Detroit Three passenger cars to crack the top-10 best-seller list in August were the Chevy Cobalt, Ford Focus and Pontiac G5. All are built in the U.S., and have smaller engines and overall dimensions than our smallest Canadian-built model.

Overall, the CAW has the right idea: there should be give and take, especially in an industry that reaches so far across our economy. A strong manufacturing base is beneficial to Canadians even if they don't work directly in the auto industry.

At the same time, the union has to look at itself: what's the point of demanding open borders, if we have nothing to sell? Along with pressuring the government, the CAW should be asking the Detroit Three why Canada isn't setting the stage for small, fuel-efficient cars we can market around the world. We have the technology. Let's start to build.